Film spacers are interposed between upper and lower glass panels, whose perimeters are sealed to form a cell into which a liquid crystal is infused Thus, a liquid crystal display element is formed.
Conventionally, glass fiber or plastic balls have been used as spacers. They are dispersed by a spacer sprayer in equal amounts on the upper or lower panel, along with a solvent, and then the panels are joined with the spacers between them.
The gap between the upper and lower panels is critical, as it has an influence on a display area quality. Glass fiber or plastic balls do not maintain a constant cell gap, owing to nonuniformities in size and distribution. In the case of a STN(super twisted nematic) liquid crystal display element having a twist angle of more than 180 degrees, even a minute variation in cell gap has a noticeable influence on the display quality.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent(Kokai) No. 89-196020 reveals a plastic liquid crystal cell using film as spacers interposed between the upper and lower panels. In this case, the spacers are in the form of strips disposed only in the nondisplay areas. However it is not easy to properly position the thin and long spacers arranged on the upper and lower glass substrates.